Kent and Kathy's story
My husband is adopted, so adoption was something we knew we wanted to do right from the start of our lives together. What we didn't know at that time was that would be the only way for us to have the family we always wanted.

We begin our adoption journey with Adoption Support Center in September, 2001 and things moved quickly from there. After deciding we wanted to do a domestic adoption and filling out all the necessary paperwork and having the homestudy (the homestudy was actually very exciting, another step towards a baby), it was time now for the waiting. It was December now. We just thought about the holidays and we went about our normal routine.

3 months later, after the paperwork and approval of our homestudy, on March 21, 2002 we received the call we had been waiting for. A young lady, named Rachel had picked us from our album and profile and wanted to meet us. (She was due in a week. Now I was nervous). Our case-worker from the agency said Rachel wanted me to call her, so I made a phone call on March 25th. It was the phone call that changed our lives forever, not only because it was giving us a family, but because we were brought together with a remarkable person who was giving us a gift we could only imagine having.

After my phone call with Rachel, I wasn't sure if she would be able to go through with the adoption or not, but I felt like, at this point, I wanted what was best for her and if she changed her mind I knew I would understand and be able to continue on...back to the waiting process again, if I had to. I won't share most of the phone call conversation, I feel like that is private between me and Rachel, but I will share it with Klayton someday when he is older. She did say she was expecting a girl and that she wanted us at the hospital when she went into labor. Her due date was the next day. Needless to say we were excited, nervous, and sad for her. It was "bittersweet".

Now, at this point, I couldn't even think of anything else, we had so much to do to get things ready and not much time to do it in. On March 29, 2002 at 9:00 pm, we received a call from ASC that Rachel was in labor. We were so excited! We had a long drive ahead of us and all we could think about was getting there before the baby was born. We arrived at 12:45 and were told that the baby had been born at 12:07. The nurse said Rachel wanted to meet us and took us to her room. Rachel said, "Can you believe it's a boy?" We were all surprised, but thrilled. We visited with Rachel for a while and then Kent left the room and I was able to sit with her for a little bit and talk to her. She said she felt better about her decision now that she had met us. I guess this was the moment I knew she would go through with the placement and this was the moment I realized we were about to become parents of a beautiful baby boy.

Klayton is now 4½ years old, very bright, funny, and the love of our lives. They say you'll be given the one that is meant for you to have. Kent and I were married 11 years before we began our adoption journey, and I like to say "God was saving this one just for us".

Klayton's birthmother, Rachel, will always hold a special place in our hearts. What a loving thing and amazing gift to have given.